Yellow River Craftsman

Chapter 9 The Old River Worker is Dead

Grandpa got up and took out a household registration booklet from the house, put it in front of me and said, "Tuobagu, listen to what grandpa said, don't miss a good girl like Xiaodi. This is the household registration booklet. When you return to the city, choose a Good day, let's register for marriage first!"

I glanced at Gu Meidi in embarrassment, only to see that Gu Meidi's face turned red.

I hurriedly said: "Grandpa, there is no rush to get married. Xiaodi and I are still working hard for the past two years, and we don't want to get married yet..."

"Fart!" Grandpa slapped the table violently: "As the saying goes, it's not tiring to work with a man and a woman! When you two get married, you can work harder and put your heart into it!"

I said, "Grandpa, it's not up to us to decide on marriage, so we still have to ask Xiaodi's parents for permission, right?" kick.

Gu Meidi immediately understood what I meant, and said with a smile on his face: "Yes! Grandpa, getting married is a big deal. No matter what happens, I still have to go back and tell my parents first!"

"Yes! Yes!" Grandpa patted his head and said, "Look, look, I'm so old-fashioned now, I'm only happy for myself! Xiao Di, in fact, my grandson is quite outstanding, although he is tall It’s a bit shabby, but he has a good heart, is smart, hard-working, and self-motivated, right, it’s also a potential stock, you can’t go wrong choosing him for safekeeping! You can’t go wrong! Hahaha!”

I looked depressed, grandpa, grandpa, are you hurting me or complimenting me?

The more the grandfather talked, the happier he became. Seeing this, Gu Meidi quickly changed the subject: "By the way, Professor Ye called me in the afternoon!"

"Oh, what did he say?"

"Professor Ye said that judging from the facial features and clothing of the dead body, it is preliminarily determined to be a Xixia warrior!"

Western Xia warrior? !
The Xixia Dynasty was almost a thousand years ago. It was a conquest dynasty established by the Dangxiang clan in Chinese history. Because it was located in the northwest of China, it was called Xixia in history.The Xixia Dynasty was once in its heyday and left a strong mark in Chinese history.Gu Meidi said that the records about the worm of death can be traced back to 1000 years ago, and the worm of death was found in the head of the ancient corpse, which coincides with the time when the Xixia Dynasty existed.

"What about the eyeball tattoo?" I asked.

Gu Meidi said: "Professor Ye has no answer about the eyeball tattoo pattern, because historical materials have never mentioned that Xixia people have eyeball worship. Maybe the eyeball pattern is just the personal preference of that Xixia warrior!"

I nodded: "What about the archaeological site in Zhengzhou, is there any new progress?"

Gu Meidi said: "It's only been two days. Why are you more urgent than the staff at the ancient tomb excavation site? Professor Ye said, anyway, these days are the excavation site, so we don't need to do anything, so this Let's take our vacation this time, let's have fun for three to five days before going back!"

I looked at my grandfather's aging face, and felt a little bitterness in my heart. That's fine, I can stay and play with my grandfather for a few more days.I have been studying and working outside these years, and then I am busy running around. Life has made me forget a lot of things that I should not have forgotten.

I quietly swallowed my tears back into my stomach, raised my wine glass and said, "Come on, grandpa, let me and my grandson have a good drink today!"

We stayed in the country for a week, and during this short week, Gu Meidi and I were almost inseparable.Many neighbors secretly praised me, saying that I found a beautiful wife.Although this daughter-in-law is still a counterfeit for the time being, I am still happy in my heart.A man is a face-saving animal. When others praise his wife, he feels very proud, like a proud big rooster.

Gu Meidi half-jokingly said: "Look at your complacency, if next time you come back, the woman next to you is not as beautiful as me, just wait to be scolded!"

I said casually, "I'll bring you back next time, won't it be fine?"

Gu Meidi pursed his lips and smiled: "It's a beautiful idea! Do you want me to continue acting with you? Fine, let's see how you perform in the future!"

Looking at Gu Meidi's graceful back, I swore in my heart: "When I return to the village next time, I will make you my prospective wife!"

There was a beeping sound from the phone in the back room. Grandpa got up and went into the room to answer the phone. When he came out, he looked a bit unhappy.

"Grandpa, what's wrong with you? Who's calling?" I noticed the change in Grandpa.

Grandpa sighed, took a sip of his wine, and put down his glass heavily: "Old Kuizi is dead, come and visit Panshi Village with me tomorrow morning!"

"Who is Lao Kuizi?" I put down my chopsticks, feeling that the name was very familiar, as if I had heard it somewhere.

"Old river worker of the Yellow River!" Grandpa said lightly.

"Oh, so it was him! He died? How did he die?" I immediately remembered who Lao Kuizi was. His real name was Liu Kui. He had been floating on the Yellow River all his life and was a river worker. The blue strange fish incident in 98 was brought by Lao Kuizi to quell it. Unexpectedly, this mysterious Yellow River craftsman died.

"How did you die? I'm so old!" Grandpa picked up the wine glass and took another sip. There was something cloudy in his eyes, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

In my memory, although Grandpa and Lao Kuizi are both craftsmen on the Yellow River, they have almost no contact with each other.I used to hear from the villagers that there seemed to be some festival between Grandpa and Lao Kuizi.But they are all so old, even if there were any festivals when they were young, they should be relieved now that they are dead. It is no wonder that grandpa promised to go to Pankou Village tomorrow to have a look.

We went to Pankou Village early the next morning. Pankou Village is tens of miles upstream of Hezi Village. We took a tractor truck from a fellow villager and bumped along the way.

When I was approaching Pankou Village, I saw a tall white flag erected at the entrance of the village from a distance, with the word "Dian" written in black ink on it.Lao Kuizi is also a well-known figure in Pankou Village. He has cleaned up many evil things in the Yellow River for people in his life, and is deeply respected by the local people.So when Lao Kuizi died, almost the whole village came to pay his respects.

"This old boy is doing pretty well!" Grandpa smoked a cigarette, and said to himself with a faint smile on the corner of his mouth.

I looked around and saw that there were so many people who came to mourn the funeral. Besides the villagers of this village, there were also many people from other villages. The scene was very lively.

Knowing that we came to pay tribute to the funeral, some enthusiastic villagers led us to the home of Lao Kuizi.

Lao Kuizi's home is located behind a bamboo forest, surrounded by fences, inside is a courtyard-style hut, and there is a courtyard dam at the door, which is usually used to dry quilts, dry grain and so on.The doorway is full of wreaths, lined up for hundreds of meters, and the wind blows, and the paper flowers on the wreaths rattle.

The bamboo grove outside the door is covered with strings of white paper, and the courtyard dam is also covered with yellow paper in the shape of copper coins. When the wind blows, it will fly up, covering the sky and the ground.

There is a coffin in the center of the main room. According to the rules in the countryside, people must be placed in the center of the main room after death and cannot be placed outside. I can't explain the reason for this taboo.

It was a black coffin, so well-painted that it glowed black, and it stood on top of two long-legged benches.There is a large picture frame in front of the bench, inside which is a black and white photo of Lao Kuizi.There were two white candles and a brazier standing on both sides of the photo. Several relatives knelt beside the brazier, sobbing and throwing paper money into the brazier. The brazier was full of ashes after burning.

Grandpa put a stick of incense on Lao Kuizi, then walked around the coffin, patted the coffin at last, sighed, walked out of the main room with his hands behind his back without saying a word.

When I left Pankou Village, I asked my grandfather, "Are you familiar with Lao Kuizi?"

Grandpa thought for a while: "If you say you are familiar, you are considered familiar, and if you say you are not familiar, you are not familiar!"

Although Grandpa didn't make it clear, I had a vague feeling that Grandpa and Lao Kuizi not only knew each other, but were very familiar with each other.It's just that I don't know why they never communicate with each other, there must be some stories in it.Since grandpa doesn't want to tell me, it's inconvenient for me to ask more.When he wants to tell me, of course he will.

It was already dusk when we returned to Hezi Village. Grandpa didn't say much all the way, and most of the time he just looked up at the sky, looking preoccupied.I didn't bother him, maybe he remembered the days when he was acquainted with Lao Kuizi.

Due to the exhaustion of traveling all day, we had a simple dinner when we got home, and went to bed early.I haven't had a good night's sleep for two or three days in a row. I've been sleepy for a long time. I hope I can sleep comfortably tonight.

The four fields were all silent, and I was sleepy and soon fell asleep.

In the dimness, I vaguely heard someone calling my name.

"Little Gu! Little Gu!"

The voice was hoarse and vicissitudes, a little ethereal, as if it was far away in the sky, and it seemed to be close at hand.

After shouting several times in a row, I managed to open my eyes, and when I turned around, I saw a figure standing beside my bed.

I was half awakened from my drowsiness, and opened my mouth subconsciously, but found that my throat seemed to be blocked by something, and I couldn't even utter a word.What made me even more horrified was that I couldn't even move my limbs, and I lay motionless on the bed like a corpse.

The hazy moonlight slanted in from the window, making the bedroom a little numb.

I vaguely saw a wrinkled old man standing beside my bed, his gray hair fluttering in the night wind.But I clearly remember that the night in the country was very cool, so I closed the windows before going to bed. How could there be wind?At first I thought that this old man was a grandfather, but I immediately realized that something was wrong. This old man's body was thicker than his grandfather's, but his height was shorter than his grandfather's.

My heart trembled uncontrollably, who is it?Who is this old man next to the bed?

(End of this chapter)